Reading

Reading at Beechen Cliff School

Our ambition for reading:

At Beechen Cliff our ambition is for all of our pupils to be reading at or above their chronological age by the end of Year 9. This will allow pupils to confidently access their Key Stage 4 curriculum and GCSE exams. Further, confidence in reading will lead to pupils reading regularly, which will increase their cultural capital, enhance their vocabulary and develop their imagination. We aim to build a reading culture where pupils develop a love of reading and read for pleasure. 

A good grounding in reading is essential for pupils’ acquisition of knowledge and their ability to develop schema (making connections between the things that they know, both within and across their subjects). The average reading age required to access GCSE level texts and examination papers is 15 years and 8 months. We therefore have a comprehensive and rigorous approach to reading, which ensures that our pupils develop the knowledge, vocabulary and reading fluency to access the curriculum and their exams, and that they leave school with sufficient reading skills for future learning and employment. We ensure that our pupils read widely and constructively, and pupils’ reading supplements our curriculum to ensure that pupils leave us with sufficient knowledge and cultural capital to succeed in life. Our approach to reading develops pupils’ reading skills, comprehension and accuracy and their confidence and enjoyment in reading. 

Building a reading culture is particularly important at Beechen Cliff School, as we are a boys’ school in the lower school (Years 7-11), and there is a gender reading gap among children in England (and many other countries). Studies show that girls outperform boys in reading and literacy skills and that boys are more likely to leave school unable to read. Research by the National Literacy Trust found that the gender reading enjoyment gap increased five-fold during lockdown, with 60.2% of girls saying they enjoyed reading during lockdown, compared with 48.9% before, while only 48.7% of boys said they enjoyed reading amid the pandemic, compared with 46.6% pre-lockdown. In this context, we must take a robust approach to boys’ reading at Beechen Cliff School. We have detailed below what we are currently doing to tackle this problem and ensure that Beechen Cliff pupils leave school with strong, age-appropriate reading skills and a love of reading. For further information about how to support your son’s reading at home, please read the following article: https://buildingboys.net/the-gender-reading-gap-why-boys-underperform-in-reading-what-can-you-do-about-it/

How we ensure children become good readers

Reading as part of the curriculum

In Years 7, 8 and 9 reading is timetabled as part of the curriculum. In Year 7 pupils have two hours of reading per fortnight and in Year 8 and 9 pupils have one hour of reading per fortnight. The Accelerated Reader Programme is implemented through these lessons. Accelerated Reader is a digital programme that helps pupils to choose books at or slightly above their reading level to help their reading skills develop. Upon finishing books, pupils take a quiz on that book to see how well they have understood it. The programme then makes recommendations for their next read. 

Year 7 pupils follow a programme teaching them how best to use the Library and find resources within it for their first term of Library lessons. 

 The table below gives the list of titles available for reading lessons at school. Reading teachers choose their class readers based on the knowledge of their group.

Pupils in Year 7 have two 30 minute reading homeworks each week and pupils in Years 8 and 9 have one 45 minute reading homework each week. Reading homework is set and monitored by a member of the English Faculty who takes the class for their reading lessons each week or fortnight. 

A phonics based reading programme takes place to support our weakest readers in Year 7, as part of what we refer to as our ‘Achieve Curriculum’. This aims to rapidly develop reading confidence and fluency.

A literacy support curriculum is in place for pupils who require additional literacy support in Year 8 and 9. These lessons focus on reading and writing skills and vocabulary development. Further support for literacy is available at KS4 in place of a fourth GCSE option subject. Pupils are assigned to this class in discussion with the SENDCO.

Across both KS3 and KS4 vocabulary is focused on in every lesson with key words displayed and referred to as part of the whole school teaching and learning policy. Teaching reading and developing vocabulary is seen as the responsibility of all teaching staff. All Faculty Improvement Plans include an objective to develop reading within their subject areas with Literacy Leads in each Faculty working with the school Literacy Coordinator. All schemes of learning highlight where reading opportunities are incorporated into lessons across our curriculum.

Reading in tutor time

Within the tutor time programme there are two reading sessions a week for all pupils in Years 7-11. All pupils have one session of guided reading with their tutor, and one session of independent reading where they read their own book for pleasure. Pupils in Year 7-10 record what they are reading and what has happened in their book into their planners on a weekly basis. They also keep a record of all of the books they have read throughout the year in their reading log at the back of their planners. Their reading feeds into our Character Award, where they can achieve Bronze, Silver or Gold depending on how many books they have read. 

Further reading tasks are incorporated into the Tutor Time programme. Activities such as the theme of the week or character development programme often involve reading extracts or other materials as a group and discussing the texts that have been read. Please follow the link below for further information on our Character Development Programme: 

https://www.beechencliff.org.uk/about/character-development/

Reading on a daily basis

All pupils are expected to have reading books with them at all times that are an appropriate level for them. This is determined by the Accelerated Reader Programme, as pupils are encouraged to take a quiz when they have finished reading a book. 

The School Library is available for reading before school, at breaks and lunchtimes, and after school every day of the week. Pupils are strongly encouraged to use this resource, and are motivated by our termly reading competitions and certificates when they have read a certain number of words (recorded by Accelerated Reader when they complete quizzes).

Extra-curricular activities also give opportunities for reading wherever possible, for example Scrabble Club, Humanities Club, Warhammer Club, Beekeeping Club, Duke of Edinburgh Award, the Equalities Team, the Eco Team etc.

The Accelerated Reader Programme

We use the Accelerated Reader programme (AR) which helps teachers manage and monitor children’s independent reading practice. Pupils pick books at their own level and read them at their own pace. When finished, pupils take a short quiz on the computer – passing the quiz is an indication that the pupil has understood what has been read. Teachers, Librarians and Support Staff may assist pupils by:  

• Guiding them to books appropriate to their ability and interests
• Asking probing questions as pupils read and before quizzing
• Pairing pupils with our Sixth Form buddy programme, where Sixth Form volunteers read with or to younger pupils

To access Accelerated Reader quizzes from home pupils should log in to the Student Intranet (link on homepage of school website), click on the tile which says Accelerated Reader, then use their login details and password to access the quiz.

We recommend regular reading for, as with anything, performance improves with practice and children who read at least 20 minutes a day with a 90% comprehension rate on the AR quizzes see the greatest gain. Some of this can be completed as part of the weekly homework schedule.

We have lots of books that the children can choose from in school, however we are also aware that many children like to read their own books from home. You can visit the website www.arbookfind.co.uk to search all of the available books with AR quizzes to see if the book your child wants to read is on the scheme.

GL Assessments – New Group Reading Tests

In addition to the AR quizzes, we use GL Assessment’s New Group Reading Test (NGRT) to assess pupils’ reading ages. GL Assessment’s New Group Reading Test is a standardised assessment which measures reading skills against a national average. It is adaptive, which means that it responds to the ability of the child and adapts the questions accordingly, so that stronger readers are challenged and less-strong readers remain engaged. The test takes around 30 minutes to complete and pupils take the test on a computer. There are two sections: sentence completion and comprehension of a passage. 

All pupils take the NGRT at the start of the academic year, then pupils who score below their age-related expectation take a further paper-based test to confirm whether or not the pupil requires reading intervention. 

Pupils with a lower reading age than their chronological reading age then receive some form of reading intervention, and sit the test again at two further points in the academic year to see if progress has been made.

Reading Age results for the past three years:

(% of pupils at or above age-related expectation)

Reading Intervention Programme

We use data from the NGRT and in house reading assessments to inform our reading intervention programme. Interventions are as follows:

• Achieve Curriculum (Year 7) or English Support Group (Years 8-11) taught by the SENDCO or English teachers
• Completing online reading intervention, Lexia, during two tutor time sessions a week
• Taking part in small group reading sessions with a Librarian
• If the pupil is EAL, having one to one sessions with our EAL lead teacher, Mrs Thorn
• If the pupil is SEND, having one to one sessions with the Learning Support Team
• Being a priority for reading with their teacher, 6th form reading buddy or librarian during reading lessons 

Sixth Form Buddy Programme – A select group of our Sixth Form students buddy up with weaker readers in KS3. It’s a time where KS3 pupils spend 15-30 minutes a week reading with their ‘buddy’ who has volunteered to support this programme. This either takes place one to one or in small groups. Importantly, its aim is to enthuse the younger pupils, engender confidence and encourage more frequent reading. In addition it’s a time for the Sixth Form students to recapture their own imagination and enthusiasm for reading alongside the younger students, as well as developing their leadership skills

How we foster a love of reading